


third time's the charm

by djchika



Category: Gossip Girl
Genre: F/M, Unrealized pining, cause it should be, is that a tag?, mentions of eating disorders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-08
Updated: 2019-01-08
Packaged: 2019-10-06 15:51:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17348087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/djchika/pseuds/djchika
Summary: Dan discovers something about Blair Waldorf and discovers something about himself too.





	third time's the charm

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting from ff.net

 

The first time it happened, they were both interns at W. He was Dan Humphrey. She was Blair Waldorf. Never the twain shall meet. Yet, the universe seemed to be having a laugh at his expense because he couldn’t seem to get rid of Blair.

Dan ignored the snide voice in his head that told him he didn't really mind spending time with the UES princess.

The discussion of movies and art and books. It was an inevitable consequence of working with her. It wasn’t like they were friends. They weren’t. They were just two people who happened to always be at the same place at the same time.

Plausible deniability.

It was why the first time it happened, he just added it to the long list of things he didn’t know about her.

He didn't know, for example, that Blair Waldorf was capable of inhaling a sandwich.

The bagged lunch he had brought from home sat on his desk. He hadn’t thought much about it when he made two sandwiches that morning, but looking over at where Blair was glaring at her laptop, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to share.

"I don't think Epperly was kidding when she said we had 15 minutes for lunch," he said, dangling one of the sandwiches in front of her.

"I know that, Humphrey," she said slowly as if speaking to a child, "but when an important task comes along, who do you think Epperly would choose to take care of it? The intern who used her lunch break to work or the intern who wasted his time eating a second-rate sandwich?"

"I think Epperly would choose the intern who's conscious over the intern who fainted because she hasn't eaten anything all day. Admit it or not, Blair, you can't survive on ambition alone.” He placed the sandwich on her table. “Just eat it, okay? I won't tell on you."

Dan would have happily dived into his pastrami on rye but, however annoying, there was truth to Blair’s little speech. He set his lunch down with a sigh and ran through his to do list. The W internship was far from his dream job, but he was glad to be working at any sort of publication - even one as frivolous as W. He smiled, thinking of what Blair would say if he had voiced that particular thought.

The grumbling in his stomach was getting harder to ignore. Dan looked over at Blair and it took him a moment to process what he was seeing. Not only had Blair Waldorf eaten the sandwich he had given her, she was already on her last bite.

"You wanna slow down there, Blair? This isn't competition, you know," he teased. The most he had ever seen Blair eat was half a pizza and even then she had picked off all the cheese.

The smile Blair gave him was a smile Dan knew too well. It was the falsely apologetic one she gave that preceded an insult.

"Maybe if you paid more attention to fashion than food, Humphrey, you'd realize that in W,  _ everything _ is a competition. Then again, your shirt manages to say loud and clear that you have no interest in W or in fashion so thank you for making this easy for me."

Dan looked down at his shirt ready with a retort when Epperly walked through the door carrying what seemed to be an armful of invites. Blair was by her side in an instant.

With a reluctant look at his still wrapped sandwich, Dan rushed to follow his boss and his annoying little non-friend.

Afterward, he overheard some of the interns taking about how they’d heard Blair throwing up in the ladies room. 'Serves her right for eating too much too fast,' he thought still annoyed that he hadn't been able to eat his own lunch.

Even so Dan made a point to check on Blair.

-

The second time was the afternoon of the W party. They were both taking a much needed break from Epperly and Blair was — in the daintiest way possible — scarfing down a hotdog.

Shaking his head slightly, Dan took a bite of his own hotdog. "You really should slow down or you're going to get sick again. I don't think we have time for a bathroom break."

It wasn’t like she could legally stop them from going, but she’d definitely take it against them. Dan checked his phone, praying to any higher being listening that Epperly would leave them alone for more than five minutes.

"What," Blair asked, her voice ice cold, "are you talking about, Humphrey?"

"The others were talking about how you threw up the other day," Dan replied, still engrossed in his messages. Or lack thereof. He should call Jeremiah. Make sure that he wasn’t drowning in a pool of alcohol. "Epperly would rather you take an extra five minutes to chew your food properly than take a whole day off sick. Besides, if you get sick I wouldn't have the pleasure of seeing your face when I bring the better author to the party."

Dan raised his head to smile at Blair smugly and was surprised to find her glaring at him. It was like being back in high school again, the Queen B of Constance staring haughtily at the outsider from Brooklyn.

"Then maybe you should stop obsessing over my eating habits, Humphrey," Blair spat out, "and spend more time making sure your drunken mentor doesn't drink himself to a stupor before he arrives at the party."

Blair practically shoved the hotdog at him before angrily grabbing the bags they had been assigned to pick-up. Dan had to do a quick juggling act to keep both hotdogs from falling while reaching out to Blair at the same time.

"Would you calm down? I was kidding. Blair—" Dan grabbed her arm, now more confused than surprised. "Look, Epperly will be calling us any minute wondering where we are. Let's just finish these so we can go back to the hotel."

He offered her back her hotdog as a peace offering. Blair didn’t stop glaring at him even as she took it. Awkward tension descended around them as Blair picked at her bun and Dan chewed on his own good.

"Don't tell Serena, okay?" Blair asked, breaking the silence.

He nodded, not entirely sure what secret she was keeping for Blair Waldorf.

The moment they got back to the hotel, Blair disappeared for exactly five minutes before suddenly popping out of nowhere and back at Epperly's side. Dan felt a nagging feeling at the back of his neck. There was a strong smell of mint around Blair and that meant something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

-

The third time was on Valentine's Day. Hiding behind that curtain, he could hear Blair's breath growing shallow with each word they overheard. She was minutes away from crumbling. She’d hate him for seeing it, hate herself even more for letting him. Desperate, Dan blurted out the first thing that popped in his head, "Wow, he's good."

Immediately he wanted to smack himself. Dan almost hoped Blair would hit him herself but what he got instead was a quiet, "Shut up, Humphrey".

Slowly, as if moving too fast might cause her to break, Blair sat down on the loveseat hidden in the alcove.

Barely a heartbeat passed before he was sitting down next to her, reaching out to hold her hand in a gesture of comfort. It came no surprise to him when she quickly snatched her hand away. Blair’s breath hitched and Dan had to curl his fingers into his palm to keep from reaching out to her. For the hundredth time in his life, Dan Humphrey felt a maddening need to punch Chuck Bass.

He was caught off guard when she suddenly stood up and practically flew out of the alcove.

"Blair-"

Dan followed her down the stairs and across the ballroom. Blair barged into a room and Dan was so focused on not losing her that he almost didn't realize that he was about to go inside the ladies room.

"Yours is over there," a blonde in a short dress pointed out helpfully.

"Thanks. I'm just waiting for friend."

She opened the door and made a face as soon as she stepped inside. "Hey, guy! I think your friend's been partying a little too hard."

Dan’s stomach hollowed out as realization hit him.

Binging. Bathroom trips. Don’t tell, Serena.

Jesus, he was an idiot.

He didn't need to wait long before a completely composed Blair Waldorf walked out of the ladies room looking for all the world as if nothing had happened.

"Blair-"

She looked at him in surprise, color draining from her already pale face. Blair gave him a defiant look as if daring him to say another word.

They stood there staring at each other for a moment. Dan Humphrey seeing Blair Waldorf for first time. He wanted to shake her, ask her what the hell she was doing to herself and how long it had been going on, but he knew she’d just deny everything. 

Plausible deniability.

And for that reason the next words that came out of Dan Humphrey's lips were, "Come on, I'll take you home."

-

Dan picked up his phone for the seventh time that night. He couldn’t just call and check on Blair. That wasn’t how they worked. A text about his article might do it. He expected a scathing text back, or even continued silence. He was pleasantly surprised when his phone rang instead.

"Hello?"

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"Well, this way, I can initiate a whole new round of pestering you to submit it," Dan replied, smiling into the phone. His smile faded though when he heard her reply. Mixed emotions swirled inside him, excitement, apprehension, fear of rejection and a warm  _ something _ towards Blair that he didn't care to describe.

"It was... Good..."

Dan suppressed the urge to laugh. "Mm, I'm sorry. What'd you just say?" He knew he was being smug but couldn't help it. A compliment from Blair Waldorf was a one in a million occurrence.

"You heard me," she relented, "It was... sharp and well observed. When it comes to experiencing an ex with a new love, you have some insight."

Dan heard the change in Blair's tone and said gently, "How— how are you doing with all that?"

“Just seeking refuge with the perfect anti-Valentine's Day movie; Rosemary's Baby."

"What part are you at? I'll watch with you. Forgive me if I've memorized some of Ruth Gordon's dialogue. Uh, okay, all of it."

"It just started."

Dan felt his heart do a funny little skip at the gentleness in Blair's voice. Not quite knowing what to make of it, he ignored the feeling and instead focused on the movie.

He stayed with her on the phone all night, making comments about the movie here and there but not bringing up Chuck or her secret. Just before hanging up he heard her say softly, "Thanks, Humphrey."

Dan didn’t bring it up the following day either. He was still getting to know Blair, but he’d bet his first editions that pushing her would just make her clam up more. What he did do, was drop by W during lunch.

She glared at him, but accepted the salad he brought her.

That evening after movies and a hard won pizza, he woke up with Blair's head on his shoulder. He smiled softly as he listened to her rhythmic breathing. A small wrinkle creasing on her forehead when he shifted so she was lying on his chest, her arm around her. 

Just before falling back asleep, Dan wondered briefly when he had become Blair Waldorf's keeper. The voice in his head was soft when it told him that he didn’t really mind that either.

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk on: [Tumblr](http://djchika.tumblr.com/) | [DW](https://djchika.dreamwidth.org/) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/djchika_) | [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/djchika_/)


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